Ireland v Ecuador - Match Thread

[pete]

Doyle was a class apart from the kids & 1st timers.

Potter was terrible in the B international last year but obviously better yesterday. While O'Halloran was good going forward i thought he left a lot of gaps behind him.

Colin Doyle, Potter & Murphy will have a chance to get into the regular squad in the Autumn.

Foe selfish reasons hopefully Kilbane has minor injury as would love to see Gamble start on saturday (it was a difficult game for all the subs to come into yesterday) as must be a long time since a LOI player started a senior international.

[co. down green]

Potter,Doyle & Murphy should be in strong contention for squad places come September.

Murphy has shown some great form for Sunderland this season and continued that run into last night's game.

I thought this week was going to be a bit of a disaster, but was delighted by the determination and fight of the young players all during the game.

[theworm2345]

Highlights:
13' Benitez Goal: AttachMax (http://www.attachmax.com/Benitez_vs_Ireland.html)
44' Doyle Goal: AttachMax (http://www.attachmax.com/Doyle_vs_Ecuador.html)
45' Keogh Chance: AttachMax (http://www.attachmax.com/Keogh_Chance_vs_Ecuador.html)



For my site, www.footballclips.net/forum (don't be freaked out, things are just slow because football season is over :()

[theworm2345]

Anyone know the name of the referee? I know he was American, thats all

[OwlsFan]

That man with great insight, Laughing Bill O'H, asked Kenny Cunningham after the game was Alex Bruce a prospect and Kenny replied in the affirmative:eek: . Johnny G was also quite animated for him and positive about the performance.

[Wolfie]

Great to read such a predominantly positive vibe on the thread.

Obviously can't get carried away but its encouraging that some the players making their debut didn't freeze or appear out of their depth.

The news on Potter's performance is also good and hopefully he continues to develop at club level.

Hopefully they can kick on for an equally good performance on Saturday.

There's hope!!

[paul_oshea]

Watched this game last night. no one stood out, bar maybe doyle as he had presence.

Lads getting over-excited here as usual. game was very poor, if ecuador were any good they would have beaten us 3 or 4 - 1. The only reason it was end to end was because the final ball from both sides was very poor and ended going straight back to the opposition. we had a good bit more possession in the second half but thats was about it. Unfortunately nothing in that match worth writing home about.

[Billsthoughts]

Don't think you can compare them... Different players... But I believe given what I've seen they have the potential to be a quality partnership.
Fair point but if we were to have one chance in a match I would rather have Doyle on the end of it than Keane.


what exactly do you base this comment on?? even dunphy for all his negatives picked keane out as the best Irish player in the premiership this season

Would you have West Ham as the team of the Premiership then also? One burst of form towards the end of the year doesnt make for a good season. Ive seen him play countless times for Ireland and have been more impressed with Doyle. Thats just my opinion.

[Ordinary Fan]

Let's not get carried away, two average teams sprinkled with a couple of class players.
Doyle (Kevin) is the real deal and
Potter showed some good touches when the ball stopped fizzing throught the air.
Murphy showed well and the experience of playing with Doyle at U21 seemed to help both of them.
Hard to judge Coiln Doyle behind a poorly organised defence but worth another go.
Kilbane was himself looked good and bad in equal proportions.

Hunt looked what he is average and is not the replacement for Duff.
Keogh was lost on the righ and hmade little impact bar missing a goal from two feet.
All of the defence were bad at times but all did at least one good thing. None up to standard on that performance.

Better than I feared and entertaining to watch.

[paul_oshea]

ordinary fan, that is exactly how i woudl sum it up if i wasn't so lazy and took the easy 2 or 3 lines. reality bites i would agree would see it the same way. Nothing to take from this, bar an entertaining match, but as dunpy once said, entertaining football is not good football.

[geysir]

let's not get carried away, two average teams sprinkled with a couple of class players
Sure you can be analytical
If your starting point was not including the context of watching it past midnight, post CL final, asleep within 5 minutes of this dozefest friendly.
7 or 8 new caps barely out of the underage set up.
That the back 4 was the weakest ever seen in 35 years.
A fear that the trip it would be totally meaningless apart from matching the exact number of days that the squad will be away for next autumn.

I don't get carried away but sometimes the relief is strong :)

[dr_peepee]

I saw the last 20 minutes on Sky today when I woke up (Working nights:rolleyes:) I thought Bruce & O'Halloran looked alright from what I seen... Will be interesting to see Martin O'Neills signings next season. Could be O'Hallorans year.

I'll reserve judgement til I see the full game and the bolivia game but, (assuming Doyle, Kilbane and Hunt are a given as squad memders) Potter, O'Halloran, Murphy and Colin Doyle could be the big winners from this trip.

I see no rush to fast track Stokes to the senior set up so long as we have the options.